The Great Prognosticator? Not Quite
At the beginning of the year, I made a few predictions. Let’s see how close I came.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
At the beginning of the year, I made a few predictions. Let’s see how close I came.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
I received the following e-mail last week from Regina, a Webcomics.com member:
I just wanted to send a quick thanks for the bar code information I came across on your page. I am a high school science technology teacher and was able to incorporate some of the helpful information from your page into a brief class lesson i recently taught on QR codes. I knew my students would appreciate and take interest in the QR codes because three-quarters of them own smartphones! Haha, crazy right?
I’m going to pass along another piece of QR Code material you might want to take a look at!
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Every now and again, I think a cartoonist has to make a very strange choice between getting a point across and being, well, accurate.
I had one of those issues last week, doing the Courting Disaster cartoon.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
It was an amazing year at Webcomics.com. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:
The Webcomics.com Awards were announced
When Howard Tayler received cease-and-desist for his “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates” comic (and accompanying merchandise), he sat with Webcomics.com for a Q&A of his handling of the issue.
Are you a spammer? Here’s how to tell.
A member shared information on reducing your comic’s load time.
Scott Kurtz shared some thoughts on how he’s approached improving his writing
Great strategies for using QR codes
Noting air fare increases since Dec. 2010, Webcomics.com advised members to book their convention travel as soon as possible to lock in prices that were bound to increase over the course of the year.
Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo fielded every last question that members threw at him. (Part Two) (Part Three)
Dave Kellett’s address at the Festival of Cartoon Arts
Accessing brick-and-mortar opportunities
Working with a walk cycle to improve your figure drawing
Luggage guidelines for all major airlines
We debated Nina Paley’s ascertation that copying is not theft
The pre-Square guide to accepting credit-cards at conventions
T-shirt tutorial: From spot colors to percentages of each size to order.
You asked Scott Kurtz anything. And he answered.
My story about not listening to well-intentioned advice: “Enjoy Obscurity.”
Adobe InDesign Preflight tutorial
When are the best times to tweet?
Adobe InDesign tutorial: Making PDFs for print
Comic Scrapers: Threat or Menace?
Will Disney/Marvel merger change comic-con commissioned sketch culture?
Art 101: Draw large and reduce
How to share a convention booth
Using Square for credit-card transactions
Making the leap from POD to offset
Disadvantages of a Sole Proprietorship
The Hitch It / Ditch It critiques rewarded each participant for something they’re doing right, and pointed out one area of improvement
Scott Kurtz, Robert Khoo and I announced a special meet-up after hours at Comic-Con.
Empire City Marketing announced its services to help cartoonists with marketing and PR, offering such things as access to Zuda (which had closed shop months earlier) and Act-I-Vate (whose founder had never heard of them).
Encouraging non-monetary support
I experimented with Scribol, and got some admirable results.
The Kickstarter vs IndiGOGO comparison brought to light some very troubling facts about IndieGOGO’s methodology
Brand the comic or the cartoonist?
Mary Cagle offered some critiques on coloring
Tutorial on drawing kids
Jim Shooter: An inside look at comics contracts
We discussed how Assetbar handled its failure
I ticked a whole lot of you off by sharing how much I disliked 24-Hour Comics Day (and discouraging your participation)
Facebinks attacked the sites of several webcartoonists who use ContextWeb to serve ads. After the dust cleared, we used it as a learning moment.
Using Klout to gauge your social-media outreach
Scott Kurtz shared some thoughts on critical self-examination
Adapting on the fly at a comic convention
Training readers to expect merchandise
Tutorial: Creating a gift certificate in PayPal
Kachingle started accepting donations on behalf of owners of Web sites — without the opt-in of those sites! We issued a member adisory
So far…
Member Benny Powell shared some thoughts on how packaging matters
I had a few warnings about participating in a charity
I shared a good idea for next year: Digital Advent calendars
My personal word-balloon journey
I’ve developed a renewed respect for Twitter’s ability to help me promote my comics and strengthen my overall brand. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been experimenting with focusing the first part of my day on Twitter. I’ve seen some very good traffic from the effort, and I think my promotional tweets are much more well-received when they’re included in a larger mix of comments and conversation. Feel free to check out my Twitter feed @guigar to see how I’ve been doing this.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
What should you do if one of your customers wants to return something they have bought from you?
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
This great tip was passed along by Webcomics.com member Jules.
I was talking to a friend of mine who runs a tea shop and she had a great bit of advice.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Earlier this year, during the course of one of the Hot Seat critiques, I went into a discussion on the importance of word balloons. It’s one of the simplest fixes to make in your comic that delivers the biggest return-on-investment.
Well-done word balloons increase the professionalism of your comic, they help convey the proper tone for your comic, and — most importantly — they make your comic easier to read. And smooth readability is of paramount importance when you’re working in a format that bases most of its merit in being able to be consumed quickly.
And as I wrote the critique, I began to look at my own work a little more closely. And I wasn’t crazy about what I was seeing.
Since the very first days of my first comic, “Greystone Inn,” I did word balloons backwards. I completely went against the elementary advice I gave to every novice I ever met. Instead of lettering first and drawing the balloon around the words, I drew a balloon and then later filled it with digital type.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
My brain just stormed, and I figured there’d be no better place to park this idea than right here so we can file it away for next year.
How cool would it be to do an Advent Calendar for your comic?
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
This question comes up from time to time — and it becomes particularly relevant this time of year. Perhaps you’ve been asked to participate in a charity by providing art so some people can use it to generate funds that they will, in turn, give to a charitable organization. Or perhaps you’ve been moved to organize such a charity.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.